Are My Wages Likely to Be Garnished In Washington State?

How Do I Stop a Wage Garnishment in Washington State?

Millions of Americans have their wages garnished by their creditors every day. In fact 1 out of every 10 working people aged 35-44 had their wages garnished in 2013 according to this article in which data was obtained from NPR and Pro Publica data. This would mean that creditors are potentially garnishing the wages of many Washingtonians at an interest rate of upwards of 26% on top of the original debt that was owed.

So how do you stop a wage garnishment in Washington State? In my experience most of the people who owe on these debts did not take any action to get help or resolve the debts that are owed. Even if you can’t pay an entire debt off, reaching a settlement with your creditor for less than you owe, filing for bankruptcy or going on a payment plan with your creditor is more advisable just allowing your creditor to win a default judgment and then proceed to garnish up to 25% of your wages at over 26% interest rate.

After your creditor has attempted to collect on a debt they may submit your debt to a debt collection law firm such as Suttell & Hammer, Zwicker and Associates, Mandarich Law Group or Machol and Johannes among others who may then file a summons and complaint against you seeking the full amount of debt that you owe plus interest and attorney fees. Now of course this may be disturbing to you and at this point you would now realize that you have 20 days from the date you were served with the summons and complaint to either settle your debt, file bankruptcy or file an answer to the complaint you received which will buy some time.

How much time will depend on if your case was filed in Superior, District or any court at all as Washington allows collection law firms to serve a summons and complaint on debtors without filing the case in court. If the case has not been filed, you likely have more time to work out settlement arraignments. Smaller debts filed in District Court also tend to move fairly fast after an answer is filed so these debt collection cases should not be left lingering around hoping they will just go away.

If you have additional questions regarding how to stop a wage garnishment in Washington State, give Symmes Law Group a call today at 206-682-7975 to learn about your options.